The present invention relates to a position sensor which comprises an electrically non-conductive substrate having a resistance layer and a conductor track serving as a potentiometer tap arranged parallel thereto, and a second, electrically conductive substrate, at least one substrate being of resilient construction.
Potentiometers are known in which conductor track and resistance track are arranged parallel to and galvanically separated from each other on a substrate in order to establish different values of resistance. They can be bridged over by means of another conductor-track section on a second resilient substrate.
The strip-shaped conductor tracks of the variable resistor tap off different voltages in the electric circuit depending at the place where the conductor tracks are contacted with each other. By means of a spacer, the second substrate is maintained at such a distance from the first substrate that a contact space is maintained between the conductor tracks arranged on the substrates. This contact space is bridged over only when pressure is exerted on the outside of one substrate.
In this case, the pressure is produced by mechanical means. For the precise determination of the place of mechanical contact, a magnet arrangement is used.
The continuous mechanical pressure which is produced by the movement of the force-producing means on the resilient substrate results in rapid wear of the positioner.
Furthermore, the structure of the resistance track does not permit a precise determination of the voltage which drops off over the resistor.